10 things you need to know today: May 18, 2016

Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning testifies

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1. Sanders wins Oregon, Clinton wins Kentucky
2. Eric Fanning confirmed as first openly gay Army secretary
3. 200 families missing in Sri Lanka mudslides
4. Obama administration extends overtime pay to 4 million more workers
5. Donald Trump, the last GOP candidate still campaigning, easily wins Oregon primary
6. 77 die in latest Iraq bombings
7. Senate approves bill to let 9/11 families sue Saudi Arabia
8. Chicago officer who fatally shot bystander Rekia Boyd resigns
9. Senate passes compromise $1.1 billion bill to fight Zika
10. Girls outscore boys in first national technology test

published 18 May 2016

1. Sanders wins Oregon, Clinton wins Kentucky

Bernie Sanders won the Democratic presidential primary in Oregon and frontrunner Hillary Clinton claimed victory in a close race in Kentucky on Tuesday. The voters' split provided the latest example of division in the party as its primary battle drags on. The rivals will likely split the 55 delegates in Kentucky, and Sanders will get about four more than Clinton in Oregon, where 61 were up for grabs. Clinton remains 92 delegates short of the 2,383 needed to win — super delegates included — and she is expected to clinch the nomination in the last wave of contests June 7.

The Senate confirmed Eric Fanning as secretary of the Army on Tuesday, making him the first openly gay leader of a U.S. military branch. The vote was delayed for months by Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), who wanted assurances that Guantanamo detainees would not be sent to his state. Lawmakers from both parties praised Fanning as a capable and experienced leader. Gay rights groups called the confirmation a historic milestone. It comes five years after the military lifted its "don't ask, don't tell" policy against openly gay and lesbian service members.

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Torrential rains caused mudslides to wash over three villages in central Sri Lanka on Tuesday night, killing at least 16 people. Another 200 families in three villages were missing and feared buried. About 180 people have been rescued from massive piles of mud and debris, according to military spokesman Brig. Jayanath Jayaweera. More than 300 soldiers have been sent to search for survivors, but fog, power outages, and the ground's instability have hampered rescuers.

The Obama administration on Tuesday unveiled a rule essentially doubling the threshold where workers are exempt from overtime pay. The rule, which the Labor Department is expected to formally release on Wednesday, raises the threshold from $23,660 a year to $47,476, a change the Obama administration estimates will extend overtime protections to 4.2 million more Americans and boost wages by $10 billion over a decade. President Obama said the change would help "make sure millions of Americans' hard work is rewarded."

Donald Trump easily won the Oregon primary on Tuesday. Partial returns showed the presumptive GOP nominee winning nearly 70 percent of the vote. Sen. Ted Cruz and Ohio Gov. John Kasich, both of whom have dropped out, got 16 percent and 13 percent, respectively. Trump also made news by telling Reuters that, if elected, he would meet directly with Kim Jong Un to pressure the North Korean leader into curbing his country's nuclear program. Trump also reported 2015 income of $577 million and boasted of "tremendous cash flow" in his latest financial disclosure.

A fresh wave of three bombings killed at least 77 people in Baghdad on Tuesday. The attacks came just days after similar blasts in the predominantly Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City, and Shiite fighters were deployed in some areas to provide security. Powerful Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr blamed the government for the bloodshed, saying it had failed to protect citizens in mostly Shiite areas targeted in recent violence. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the deadliest two attacks.

The Senate on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill seeking to let families of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks sue Saudi Arabia for any role Saudi officials might have played in the plot. The legislation goes next to the House, setting up a likely clash with the White House, which has lobbied against it. President Obama has threatened to veto the legislation, and the Saudi government has threatened to sell off $750 billion in U.S. Treasury securities and other assets if it passes, so they couldn't be frozen by U.S. courts.

Chicago Police officer Dante Servin resigned Tuesday, two days before a review board was set to hold a hearing that could have resulted in his firing over the fatal shooting of an innocent bystander in 2012. Servin, who was off duty, fired into a group of people arguing outside a liquor store, killing 22-year-old Rekia Boyd. Servin was found not guilty of involuntary manslaughter in April 2015 after a judge said prosecutors should have charged him with a more serious crime because his actions were "beyond reckless."

The Senate on Tuesday passed a compromise bill that would provide $1.1 billion in emergency funds to fight Zika. President Obama asked three months ago for $1.8 billion to reduce the risk of the mosquito-borne virus, which has been linked to severe birth defects in babies born to women infected while pregnant. House Republicans introduced their version of the bill this week. It would provide $622 million, a figure the White House has called "woefully inadequate" and threatened to veto.

Girls outscored boys in the first national test of technology and engineering literacy administered by the federal government, according to results from the 2014 test made public on Tuesday. Forty-five percent of girls and 42 percent of boys scored proficient on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. The test was administered to a representative sample of 21,500 students in more than 800 schools. About 60 percent of affluent children and those from private schools scored proficient, more than in other groups.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.